A Deeper Yoga Practice Starts With You, But These Tips and Tools Can Help

by Jason Lewis

Feeling like your yoga practice is in a rut? When practiced thoughtfully and regularly, yoga has the power to transform your life. Still, if you’re always coming back to the same classes and same poses, it’s easy to lose some of those positive benefits of challenging your body, mind, and soul during practice. So if you are craving more depth, more understanding, or more challenges in your own yoga practice, here are a few simple modifications you can try to help strengthen your workout.           

Practice Your Favorite or Least Favorite Poses at Home 

If you find yourself losing pace or feeling frustrated by certain poses during studio classes, consider starting your own home practice. Practicing at home is one of the easiest ways to get yourself into the habit of doing yoga on a regular basis, but a home practice also allows you to work on poses at your own pace. This means you can spend more time fine-tuning your basic poses or working on more challenging postures. Best of all, streaming devices and services can provide access to affordable or even free online classes and tutorials to keep your home yoga practice flowing smoothly. If you’re in the market for a streaming player, TV compatibility is important; for example, only certain devices work on 4K model TVs. 

Take To The Water 

Yoga doesn’t have to be a land-based practice. When you feel a bit too grounded, consider taking it to the pool or your local lake. Water, by its very nature, is fluid and moveable. When you are floating on top of it, you have to work to stay on the board. While this might feel scary at first, your body will soon acclimate and your yoga practice will elevate. Further, being in and around the serenity of the water is therapeutic and can get you back in tune with both your body and nature. 

Bring Helpful Props, Tools, and Tech Into Your Yoga Practice 

If you need some additional support for your practice, know that using props and tools is never considered cheating. In fact, variations in skeletal structures and anatomy can make the use of props extremely helpful to some yogis, and even help those yogis avoid the potential for injury and permanent damage to their bodies. So at the very least, try using props like blocks and straps during your practice to experience poses in a different way. Aside from basic yoga props, you can also enhance your practice with some of the latest tech tools. For example, if you have a smartphone, you can download yoga apps to challenge yourself with new poses. Speaking of your smartphone, if you tend to keep your iPhone around when you’re working out, you may want to outfit it with a case to keep it safe and secure. 

Make Some Calming Playlists to Spice Up Your Home Yoga Practice 

Another way you can enhance your practice with tech is to use your streaming service to access music that will help you focus and relax during your routine. Keep in mind that some people may prefer to practice in silence, but if music helps motivate you to step on your mat each day, then by all means use that tool to build a regular practice. Not sure what to include in your yoga playlists? Well that depends on the mood and pace you would like to set, but you can start by listening to these top yoga playlists during your practice and using them to create your own ambience. If music is too overwhelming, you can also use more soothing sounds to set the mood, such as singing bowls, bells, or even powerful gongs. 

Blend Your Yoga Practice With Some Mindful Meditation Sessions 

You know how those relaxing feelings tend to really settle in during savasana? Well, practicing poses is a great way to prepare your mind and body for that calm state, but if you want more of those feelings in your life, you really need to practice meditation as well. In truth, most dedicated yogis and teachers will tell you that mediation is one of the most essential elements of any yoga practice. That’s because the health benefits of meditation are so profound, they have the power to improve your ability to get into those poses to begin with and to get into the mindset needed to experience a truly transformative yoga practice. Plus, you can use many of the same tools mentioned above, like free apps, to incorporate meditation into your self-care routines. 

All the tools and tips mentioned above can enhance your yoga practice, but really the most helpful tools are ones you already possess. Because to truly experience a deeper yoga practice, you need to give yourself grace, practice some patience, and stay committed to a regular meditation and yoga practice that will provide the